A Question on Love
by Brigid
Summary: Chakotay asks Tom for help with a mystery.


Title: A Question on Love  
Author:Brigid  
Email:brigidandmike@juno.com  
Rating:[G]   
  
Synopsis:Chakotay asks Tom for help with a mystery.   
Disclaimer: Paramount owns the characters. I thank them for   
letting me play with them.  
Date:June 2002  
  
For Barb on the anniversary of her 29th birthday.  
  
  
A Question on Love  
  
Voyager was home or almost home. The ship was docked at   
McKinley Station and waiting for the debriefing teams from   
Starfleet to arrive the next morning. Their whole lives had   
been turned upside down in a matter of hours.   
  
Lt. Tom Paris was a father. He was still in total amazement   
at that! And she was beautiful, as beautiful as her mother.   
And cranky, just like her mother. Tom was walking the   
corridors of Voyager with Miral tucked safely in a pouch   
hanging from his shoulders across his belly. She had been   
fed, she was dry and now she needed to sleep. And so did   
her mother, which is why Tom was walking the halls.   
  
He found himself in the messhall expecting it to be   
deserted at this hour of the night. Everyone had a big day   
tomorrow and most were taking advantage of the unlimited   
replicator rations and time off. They were spending time   
with friends, sharing final confidences and getting ready   
for several days of hell. Tom walked across the darkened   
room to stare at the stars, which were no longer moving.  
  
Another of Voyager's command crew hadn't been able to sleep   
either. Commander Chakotay stood quietly at the viewport,   
drinking in the stars. Tom was reluctant to disturb him but   
Chakotay turned and smiled when he saw who it was.  
  
"Isn't it a little late for such a small girl to be up?" he   
asked.  
  
"You tell her, Commander, she really isn't listening to me   
at all." Tom replied. Miral was quiet but awake, staring   
wide-eyed at her surroundings.   
  
Chakotay offered the tiny infant one of his large fingers.   
She latched on to it immediately, bringing a smile to his   
face, "How is B'Elanna doing?"  
  
"She's tired but Doc let us go back to our own quarters so   
she could try to rest a little. Of course, one of us has no   
intention of letting anyone rest." He looked fondly at the   
infant strapped across his chest.   
  
"Well, she's opinionated, just like her mother!"   
  
"That she is!" Tom agreed. "What are you doing up,   
Chakotay? Don't you need to sleep too?"   
  
"I had some things to think about and my quarters were   
getting on my nerves." Chakotay's voice was hesitant, "Tom,   
how do you tell if you're truly in love?"  
  
The pilot looked at him in surprise. "Excuse me?"  
  
Chakotay's voice held a sigh as he asked again, "How do you   
tell if you're really in love?"   
  
"You're serious, aren't you?"   
  
"Yes, I am. You always seemed so sure of your relationship   
with B'Elanna and the fact that it was the right thing for   
you. How did you know you were truly in love?"  
  
This conversation has definitely taken a turn for the   
weird, Tom thought as he struggled to find an answer.   
"Well, I guess, in our case, our love just grew, a little   
each day. I mean, I knew she was special and we were   
certainly friends but after a while I realized that it was   
more. She was one of my best friends but she meant more to   
me than a friend. And after the caves on Sakari, I knew I   
wanted her in my life forever."  
  
Chakotay nodded but continued his questioning, "How did you   
know?"  
  
Tom frowned and absently rubbed Miral's back as her eyes   
began to drift shut. "I guess you know you're in love when   
she's the first thing you think of when you wake up in the   
morning and the last thing you think of at night. When her   
happiness is more important than yours; when standing by   
her side every day is your greatest pleasure. Maybe it has   
something to do with the fact that even when we argue and   
fight I know she's always going to be waiting for me at the   
end of every day and even when we don't agree she still   
loves me."  
  
"Do you think that you're the first thing that B'Elanna   
thinks of every morning?" Chakotay asked with a slight   
smile.  
  
"Not necessarily, I think her engines might have been tops   
on her list most days. But I know that I'm right up there.   
And that's okay. She's had it tough, I just had to fly   
Voyager, she had to keep it running, day in and day out,   
for seven long years. She loves me, Chakotay and I know it.   
I can't tell you why I know it, I just do." Tom finished   
with a tone of frustration mixed with the love he felt for   
his beautiful wife.   
  
Chakotay was silent for quite some time as he stared at the   
infant Tom held so gently. She was finally asleep and she   
looked like an angel, a cherub with a few Klingon ridges   
thrown in for good measure. The thoughts tumbling through   
his head were in a jumble and Tom had only added to the   
mix.   
  
"Anything you'd like to talk about?" Tom asked softly.  
  
"No, I'll have to figure this out on my own." There was a   
pause before he added, "She's asleep. Time to return to   
your quarters."  
  
"Yeah, I'll have to see if I can slip her into her bed   
without waking her. Or maybe I'll just lay on the couch so   
I don't have to move her at all." Tom answered with a   
rueful grin. "Starfleet needs to take officers over six   
feet tall into consideration when they design their   
couches!"  
  
With a laugh Chakotay agreed. "I've run into that problem   
myself at times."  
  
Tom turned to go but looked back to ask a final question,   
"Are you going to be okay, Chakotay?"  
  
"Yes, I'll be fine. Go home to your wife, Tom." Chakotay   
assured him with a warm squeeze to his shoulder.   
  
"Good night, Commander," Tom said softly.  
  
"Good night, Lieutenant," the older man replied.  
  
After Tom and Miral's departure Chakotay turned back to the   
viewport and the stationary stars. "Good night, Kathryn,"   
he whispered.   
  
The end. 


End file.
